The sky gradually grew brighter, and Yuyang County gradually became quieter. The Tang army fired a total of five rounds of 150,000 gunpowder arrows, and the entire Yuyang County was covered in fire.
The city was crowded with soldiers fleeing for their lives. Although they escaped the fierce fire, they could not escape the attack of the Tang army's oil bombs and the more terrifying smoke.
Countless soldiers tried to escape by jumping from the city, but either fell to death or were shot dead by the Tang army.
By the fifth watch, everything inside and outside Yuyang County was quiet.
It was not until noon that the fire stopped and the thick smoke gradually dispersed. Only then did a group of 500 soldiers cover their mouths and noses with wet cloths and go into the city to check the situation.
Not long after, more than 500 soldiers actually brought out more than 300 people, mostly women and children. There were more than a dozen people including Wang Shoucheng, his wife, and maids. There was a large pond in his house, and they were in danger.
At that time, he only escaped by squatting in the pond.
More than 300 women and children survived because they were unable to escape and could only save themselves on the spot, either hiding in wells or ponds, using the little air on the surface to avoid being knocked down by the thick smoke.
.
More than 300 people were led into a large tent, and the Tang army arranged for them to have meals and rest.
Wang Shoucheng had been holding his son in his arms. The father and son were trembling with fear. At this time, a soldier came over and said: "Old General Guo, please come over!"
Wang Shoucheng handed his son over to his wife and gave a few instructions before he cautiously followed the soldiers to a large tent.
There was a corpse lying on the grass next to the tent, covered with an oilcloth. The corpse was that of Zhu Si. He was suffocated by the thick smoke and was found by soldiers of the Tang Army near the city gate.
Guo Ziyi and several generals were looking at the body.
Wang Shoucheng knelt down and kowtowed, "Wang Shoucheng, a humble citizen, has come to accept the punishment!"
Guo Ziyi glanced at him and said: "Since God wants to spare your life, then we will not kill you again."
Wang Shoucheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed: "Thank you, old general, for not killing me!"
Guo Ziyi pointed to the corpse and said: "I heard that Zhu Si has a substitute. Come and see if this person is a real person or a substitute?"
Wang Shoucheng quickly stepped forward to take a look, then looked behind the left ear of the corpse, nodded and said, "It's him!"
"affim?"
"I don't dare to deceive the old general because of my humble position. First, the fake Zhu Si is similar in body shape but not in appearance. He usually has to put on makeup deliberately. He can deceive ordinary people, but he can't hide it from us.
Secondly, there is a tuft of black hair behind Zhu Si's left ear, but the double does not have it, so this person is indeed Zhu Si. Also, Zhu Si's right little finger is missing a section. This is because when he lost a bet when he was young, he drew a knife to chop off his finger, so he
You’ll know just by looking at it.”
Guo Ziyi identified them one by one, and sure enough the characteristics matched. It seemed that this was Zhu Si.
Wang Shoucheng added: "There is another thing that the old general may not know."
"What did you say?"
"Reporting back to the old general, we dug a large basement under Cangcheng. A large amount of wealth is hidden in the basement. It is part of what An Lushan and Shi Siming snatched back from the Central Plains."
"very good!"
Guo Ziyi asked again: "Are Wang Zuyou and Fu Yuangui in the city?"
Wang Shoucheng shook his head, "They went to Pingzhou for negotiations and never came back."
"Where are their families?"
"Wang Zuyou is single. His wife died young and he has a son in Yangzhou. Fu Yuangui's family is in Fanyang County, Youzhou and did not follow him to Jizhou."
Guo Ziyi smiled and said: "I will give you another chance to avoid guilt. You are Zhu Si's long history. Do you know the situation of the generals and their families under An Lushan and Shi Siming?"
Wang Shoucheng nodded, "Zhu Si has been looking for an opportunity to seize their property, but he has not had time to do so. Their details have been recorded, but these information are in the Yanwang Palace in Youzhou. If they have not been burned by the Uighurs, they can be found!"
"
Guo Ziyi was overjoyed. This was what the regent had asked him to do. They could not find any information in this regard. All the officials who knew about it went to Yuyang County. It would be great if Wang Shoucheng knew about it.
Guo Ziyi immediately sent soldiers to take Wang Shoucheng's family back to Youzhou City in a carriage.
He immediately ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield, and sure enough, a huge underground warehouse was found in the burned-out Cangcheng, and more than two thousand large wooden boxes were pulled out from it, all of which were gold, silver, and precious jewelry. These were collected by An Lushan and Shi
Siming snatched back Youzhou's wealth.
It was also the richest booty obtained by the Tang army during their occupation of Youzhou.
Liu Yan led more than 80 officials to Youzhou and officially took over Youyan Prefecture. Two months ago, Liu Yan led his team to Shandong, took over Shandong Prefecture and dealt with the hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people in Laizhou, and dispersed them all to the Central Plains Prefectures.
After settling the Goguryeo people, Liu Yan immediately led more than a hundred additional officials to the north and took over Hebei Province.
No, the takeover of Hebei Province is still going on, and Liu Yan once again led more than 80 officials north to take over Youyan Prefecture.
Li Ye met Liu Yan in the temporary palace of the regent, which was the Yan Palace, and Li Ye was waiting for Liu Yan to arrive.
"Your Majesty, I am humbled by my humble duty!" Liu Yan bowed and saluted.
Li Ye felt a little distressed when he saw that Liu Yan had become dark and thin, so he said: "Liu Shangshu doesn't have to work so hard. He can let his subordinates do it instead of doing everything himself!"
"To report back to Your Highness, my humble position is actually just to draft an outline, and the specific work is done by my subordinates. Mainly because I had no experience at the beginning, it was a mess and very tiring. Now that I have rich experience, I am not so tired. Everything can be done step by step."
Li Ye nodded and introduced to Liu Yan Zhang Guangsheng, the governor of Youzhou whom he appointed. He would then handle the affairs of Youyan states and Zhang Guangsheng would become Liu Yan's right-hand man.
Everyone sat down and Li Ye asked with a smile: "How is the situation in Shandong and Hebei?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the states in Shandong have been dealt with, state and county officials have been appointed, and they have been formally integrated into the imperial court. Hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo people have also been dispersed to states and counties in the Central Plains. This time the dismantling has been very thorough, and it is basically impossible to re-
Gathered."
"Where's Hebei Road?" Li Ye asked again with a smile.
"The clean-up of Hebei Province is still in progress, but the outline has been finalized, and the details are now being implemented, led by Wang Jin, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel."
Liu Yan probably reported some important situations in Hebei Province, and then Li Ye introduced him to the situation in Youzhou.
Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I just got the news that the rebels in Yuyang have been wiped out and Zhu Si is dead. In addition, Goguryeo in Pingzhou was suppressed before. It can be said that the war in the Tang Dynasty is basically over.
Some sporadic finishing touches, of course, the siege of Feihuxing is also a top priority."
Liu Yan quickly asked: "What is the current situation of the Uighur Army?"
"The Uighur army has broken through seven times so far, and all of them have been repulsed. The Uighurs have lost more than 30,000 lives, and we have also suffered thousands of casualties. However, the death of more than 30,000 people is a tragedy for the Uighurs, but it also has certain benefits!
"
"Why?" Liu Yan was puzzled.
Li Ye smiled lightly and said: "They have more food per capita. The soldiers died in battle, leaving more than 30,000 war horses to become food. They seem to have a lot of tea cakes. There are sufficient water sources and firewood in Feihuxing, so we need to do it as soon as possible."
It is unrealistic to eliminate them, we can only slowly use them up."
"Will they surrender and survive?"
Li Ye shook his head, "Liu Shangshu doesn't understand the Turks or Uighurs yet. They are not afraid of death, but they value reputation. Reputation is much more important than life. They would rather die than surrender, especially Khan Dengli.
If he surrenders, he will die if he goes back, so I never thought that they would surrender. There is only one way for them to survive. People from the grassland negotiate, transfer enough benefits to us, and then redeem them at a high price.
go."
"Will they?"
Li Ye still shook his head, "This involves the internal power struggle in Huihe. Frankly speaking, I don't know either."
………
Li Ye then handed over the power of government affairs to Liu Yan, and he led 10,000 cavalry to Feihuxing in Yizhou to personally observe the siege.